Improvement in operating a submarine battery connected with a boat or other vessel



. Improved Submarine Battery; and I do herel act description thereof, reference being had to y, ,y Similar letters of reference indicate the same .zines attached and a' portion of the machinery part from the lower partof the same; b, deck;

'the float tothe arm; Je, tail ot' the iloat; l, head UNITED STATES PATENT' OEEICE.

WILLIAM H. ELLIOT, OF PLATTSBURG, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN OPERATING A SUBMARiNE BATTERY CONNECTED WITH A BOAT 0RI OTHER VESSEL.

To all whom it mag/concern.-

Be it known that I, H. ELLIOT, off Plattsburg, inthecounty of Clinton, in the State of New York, have invented a new and by declare that the following is a full and exthe accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

devices in all the figures.

To enable others skilled inthe arts to comprehend, make, and usemy invention, 1 will proceed to describe its nature, construction, and operation. i

The nature of my invention consists in tne employmentof a magazine attached to an arm extending from a vessel under water, said arm being attached to the vessel by means of joints, so that it may receive either alateral or ver. tical motion by means of suitable machinery arranged within the vessel; and it further consists in theemployment of an electrical current, produced bya battery or otherwise, for the purpose of` tirin g a battery so connected to avessel.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the vessel, showing aplan of the arms with the magafor managing the arms. Fig. 2 is an elevation ot' the vessel, showing the position of an arm while being charged with a magazine, and also its position when charged and ready for action. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the vessel and arms. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the oat, with a portion of the arm and the chain supporting'it.

a is the hulk of the vessel; a', horizontal portion of the hulk, dividing the upper and mailed bp', tower; c, arm; c', position of the arm while being charged with a magazine; c", guard to protect the arm d, magazine; e, extension of the arm ,i f,ljointuniting the arm with its extension; g, joint uniting the magazine with the extension e; h, float; t', chain attaching of the arm, attachedto the upright shaft a; m, joint attaching the-arm toits head; o, bearings of the vertical .shaft n; p,wheel upon shaft 'n q, chain passing around wheel Y' p r, chain. attached to the. arm and passing over pulley s, for raising the arm to be charged; t, rudder forl working the arm; t', joint of the rudder; u,chain for turning the rudder, so as to throw Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,285, dated May 13, 1862.

the arm out from the vessel; fv, poles of the battery for tiring the magazine; u1, screws for connecting the poles at joint f; a', several plates ot' iron, forming the body ot'.the tower; y, space to be lledgwith wet cotton; z, outer temporary shell of the tower.

The operation of my submarine battery is as follows: Before goin g into action the arm c is drawn up by chain fr to the position represented at c', Fig. 2, whenit is charged by placing an extension, with a magazine attached, in the joint f. The arm is then dropped down by the side of the vessel'and drawn through the water at a safe distance below the surface of the water.' The vertical shaft n, wheel p, and head' ner that a rudder is moved, so as to swing the arm out from the vessel to any required angle, `and at the moment of passing an enemy the inner endof chain gris drawn upon by suitable machinery within the vessel connected with a steam-en gine, so as to throvwthear'm out sufliciently to drag the magazine against the enemys keel, when themagazine is tired by an electrical spark. By this means the enemys ship is destroyed. The' extension e is broken to pieces by the explosion, and to prevent injury to the arm c the joint f is so constructed that the extension may be driven through it without doing damage. A

The. poles b of the electric battery vpass through vertical shaft nan'd arm c, both of.

which arehollow;and when the extension has been inserted in joint f and fastened there by means of a key or otherwise that portion of the poles attached to the extension is joined to that within the arm, by means ot' screws 112 in the usual way. The extension e may be hollow andthe poles pass through it, as well s through arm c,to protect them from accient.

To assist chain q in throwing out the arm from the vessel I attach a small rudder, t, to the lower side of the arm. This rudder is operated by chain @which passes into the ves-V sel through hollow vertical sh aft fn, over pulleys arranged at proper places. The chain u would beprotected from accident by passingitthrou gli hollow arm c.

Several floats maybe attached to an arm or to its extension. One attached near the joint g would indicate the position of the magazine. The length of chain i must be varied accord ing to the size of the vessel to beettacked, so

ranged in connection with the maehineryffor moving the erin that they Cannot be brought together, sons to form an electricalcurrentonly when the arm is thrown ont beyond e certain angle from the side ofthe vessel. This would make it impossible -to fire Vthe magazine near the vessel carrying it by accident or otherwise.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and wish 'to have secured to me byLetters Patent, is-

1. The employment of a magazine which is controlled or governed by an arm attached to a vessel by means ofy joints end arrnnged below the surface of the water, as and I'or the purpose specified.

2. rlhe employment of a doet, L, in combination with an arm and magazine, which are attached to the vessel by means of joints, as herein set forth.

3. The employment ofa rudder, t, in coinhination with an arm attached to a, vessel hy means ot' joints, as and for the purpose speoi fied.

4. Arrangingthe arm c with the joints which attach it to the vessel in such relation to the hnlk that the magazine upon its extremity may be dragged through the water at the side 0f the vessel when moving from place to place, as herein shown.

5. The arrangement and combination of erm o, joint f, and extension e, when employed in Connection with omagazine, als herein set forth` 6. The employment of hollow vertical shai't n, in combination with arm c and poles o, :is and for the purpose specified.

W. H. ELLIOT.

Viitnesses J oHN W. LYNDE, ELvro L. NICHOLS, T. W. MOORE. 

